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Glendale man sentenced to probation in electrocution deaths

In August 2012, a memorial marks the scene of a crash that left two women dead in Valley Village. On Wednesday, a Glendale man was sentenced in connection with the crash and ordered to pay restitution to the victims' families.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / August 23, 2012)

A 21-year-old Glendale man was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday after pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter for the deaths of two Good Samaritans who were electrocuted as they tried to help him when he crashed his SUV.

Arman Samsonian was also ordered to complete 70 days of community service and pay fines and restitution to the victims’ families.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday told Samsonian, who was 19 at the time of the incident, that he was lucky to be alive.

“The things you do affect everyone around you,” Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said in court, adding that Samsonian destroyed a lot of lives the day of the wreck despite not intending to hurt anyone. “The saddest thing is that these people were there to help you.”

On Aug. 22, 2012, Samsonian was reportedly speeding on Magnolia Boulevard in Valley Village when his car struck a light pole, shearing a fire hydrant that flooded the ground with water, which became electrified by the exposed electrical wires.

Irma Yolanda Zamora, 40, of Burbank and Stacey Lee Schreiber, 39, of Valley Village were killed instantly after they stepped into the electrified water to try to assist Samsonian.

Neither of the victims’ families addressed the court Wednesday.

Six others, including Samsonian and a Los Angeles police officer, were injured in the incident.

Outside of court, Samsonian’s attorney, Andrew Flier, commended the Good Samaritans who went to help, “but at the same time, it was a clear dangerous situation,” he said.

Flier said the judge’s comments were well taken.

“I think this really affected him,” Flier said. “And that’s what the judge said today, how’s he’s going to have to carry this within himself for the rest of his life.”